Garden CitySC
11,591 residents make their home in this town in South Carolina. Public schools that outperform most of South Carolina.
Is Garden City a good place to live?
Real strengths, and real weak spots. The weak point is incomes: the median household income is $47K, and 18% of residents live below the poverty line. It also trails on hazard risk — FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 91% of U.S. communities, with hurricanes at the top. Homes run about $217K for a typical one, 3.3 times the Myrtle Beach metro’s $67K median household income. Schools are its strong suit: its schools outperform 77% of the state's. All told, that adds up to a C overall and a rank of 105th of 167 in South Carolina. Nationally, it does better than 28% of U.S. towns. 42% of residents are 65 or older in Garden City, against 17% in South Carolina’s towns and 18% across U.S. towns.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FEMA National Risk Index · home values, Zillow.
How Garden City grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within South Carolina), ordered by how far Garden City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes Garden City stand out
Where Garden City beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Garden City has grown 11% from 2010 to 2020
9,209 counted in 2010 and 10,235 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Garden City.
Garden City is a second-home town and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of South Carolina (mostly hurricanes).
Garden City earns an A− for schools
The Horry 01 school district runs its public schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Enrollment at Garden City’s public school: 398 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seaside ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 398 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within SC on state tests and graduation
The biggest natural risk in Garden City is hurricanes, at a very high overall level
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 83% of South Carolina towns, with expected losses of about $1,055 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
FEMA puts 70% of Garden City’s expected hazard losses down to hurricanes, and 10% to inland flooding. Since 1979, Garden City has seen 1,532 flood insurance claims paid out. Federal aid has come to Garden City households in 3 declared disasters; the latest was in 2022.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Garden City keeps 0.5% of its land conserved
Trails total 1.9 miles in 2 parks and preserves. Parks and preserves in Garden City: 2, covering 10 acres. The density of trails for Garden City comes to 0.4 miles per square mile.
| Garden City | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.5% | 1.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Huckabee Recreation Complex | — | 9 |
| 2. Sanford Cox Sr. Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Four seasons and hot summers: that is Garden City’s year
July afternoons average 88.7°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 96% of South Carolina places with climate records; January nights average 36.7°.
The January low in Garden City is 37°F. Only 8 of the 169 South Carolina towns we compare have a lower July high than Garden City.
| Garden City | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| January low | 37°F | 34°F | 22°F |
| July high | 89°F | 91°F | 85°F |
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
With only 0.8 jobs per working resident, most people in Garden City work out of town
For half of commuters, work is under 12 miles away. Garden City had 3,029 jobs in 2023, up 406 from 2013. Just 8% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. In Garden City, the average trip to work is 22 minutes.
| Garden City | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $47,000 | $57,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 13% | 8.6% | 11% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Garden City is less healthy than 56% of U.S. towns
Against the 4,743 U.S. towns with household incomes like Garden City’s, it is healthier than 86%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
31% of Garden City adults have obesity. Against the South Carolina average, Garden City comes out ahead on 15 CDC measures out of 32, and behind on 9. Two figures for adults locally: 27% feel lonely, 86% had a checkup this year.
| Garden City | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 48% | 40% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 33% | 33% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 86% | 80% | 79% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 12% |
| What stands out | Garden City | SC |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 7.7% | 13.3% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.2% | 8.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 15.1% | 8.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median home in Garden City sells for about $326K
The share of households in Garden City who live in a home they own: 85%. For Garden City, the midpoint rent is $1,472 a month. Homes in Garden City sold for 96.4% of their list price on average.
| Garden City | South Carolina towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 85% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,472 a month | $1,058 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Garden City
Grand Strand and 5 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Garden City. Close and well known come first.
10 mi BeachGrand Strand
7 mi MuseumBrookgreen Gardens
9 mi Theme parkFamily Kingdom Amusement Park
6 mi MuseumHuntington Beach State Park
17 mi MuseumUnited States Post Office
18 mi MuseumBurroughs SchoolPhoto credits
Grand Strand: Phil Guest from Bournemouth, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Brookgreen Gardens: Hisland7, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Family Kingdom Amusement Park: Fk714, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Huntington Beach State Park: Original uploader was Pendragon1998 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · United States Post Office: Pubdog, Public domain · Burroughs School: Pubdog, Public domain
Moving to Garden City: who provides what
Garden City is unincorporated, so Horry County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 12, 2025.
Colleges nearby
2 within 15 miles of the center of Garden City
About 2 of every 100 Garden City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across South Carolina.
About Garden City
CDP in South Carolina, United States
Garden City, sometimes known as Garden City Beach, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 9,209 at the 2010 census. Garden City Beach is located directly south of Surfside Beach. The developed part of the beach extends south beyond the limits of the Garden City CDP, into Georgetown County, and ends on a peninsula at the mouth of Murrells Inlet.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 5.5 sq mi
- Elevation
- 20 ft
Garden City’s neighbors
2 towns share a border with Garden City.
| Town | SC rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garden City | #105 | C | C+ | — | A− | C+ |
| Surfside Beach | #94 | C | C− | C | A− | B+ |
| Murrells Inlet | #79 | C+ | C− | — | C+ | A− |
Garden City and Murrells Inlet report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Garden City with a neighbor →
Questions about Garden City
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Garden City, SC a good place to live?
Garden City grades C overall, better than 28% of U.S. towns and #105 of 167 in South Carolina. It grades C+ for health and A− for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Garden City, SC expensive?
The typical home is worth about $217,000, 29% below the South Carolina typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
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